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BP is just having buyer's remorse on spill settlement: Jim Hood

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Fireboats try to extinguish the blaze on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig south of Venice after an explosion April 20, 2010. The explosion and fire killed 11 workers on the rig.
(Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune archives)

Along the Gulf Coast, we are all too familiar with BP's disingenuous advertisements. Since the Deepwater Horizon disaster on April 20, 2010, we've been subjected to BP's protestations that it is trying to "make things right." Three years and thousands of ads later, nothing could be further from the truth.

While the oil was still encroaching on our shores, BP spent millions to paint a rosy (albeit false) picture of what was taking place in our backyard in an effort to convince investors on Wall Street that it was a responsible corporate citizen.

The Deepwater Horizon tragedy, which killed 11 hard-working men, caused an as yet unknown amount of environmental damage and severely impacted our economy. BP set up its Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) under the guise that it would fairly compensate BP's victims for their losses.

Unfortunately, in short order we came to learn that the GCCF worked better for BP than it did for the Gulf.

I was hopeful when in March 2012 BP entered into a settlement agreement that was truly fair, objective and transparent.

For two years, BP, along with a team of plaintiffs' attorneys, negotiated a settlement that would finally provide the people and businesses of our region with a full measure of compensation.

BP calculated the damages, consulted with experts and sought court approval for the agreement. It agreed that if a person or business qualifies under a fair, transparent formula, the loss was caused by the spill.

In a shock to many, including myself, BP now disavows the claims process it negotiated. As part of its thin-on-truth public relations strategy, BP has embarked on another round of misleading ads. It also has sent intimidating letters to Mississippians who have rightly been awarded claims payments through the settlement process, claiming BP may seek to "recover funds."

The reason is simple -- the settlement is costing BP more money than it thought it would, and it's having buyer's remorse. BP is more concerned about keeping its bottom line than it is about keeping its word.

Every step of this long, drawn-out process, I held out hope that BP would do the right thing. Every ad and public statement from BP mentions its "commitment to the Gulf." Sadly, BP has broken its "commitment" when it comes to compensating victims through a legal process it helped create. It's an unfortunate pattern for BP, a convicted felon that has been suspended from doing business with the U.S. government for lack of corporate integrity, and pleaded guilty to felony manslaughter.

I, for one, have faith that fairness will win out in the end. No matter how hard BP fights or how many dollars it spends, as attorney general, I pledge to represent the people of Mississippi above all else, and expect BP to honor the objective, transparent claims process agreed upon in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.